making memories through food, wine and travel

A Pineapple Treat for the Dads

I know this is a few days late, but last night was a special night for Mr. N and I. We went to a local cooking school for a “cook with your kid” night. And let me tell you, this wasn’t the typical cook with your kid’s class. No chicken nuggets or pizzas at this school. In fact, we made baby back ribs (using a very similar rub that dad did on Father’s Day), homemade corn bread, Caesar salad with homemade croutons and a semi freddo. It was phenomenal! Mr. N is already talking about how we have to make the semi freddo for the blog, so I think there’s a good chance we’ll be sharing that one soon!

In the meantime, we’ll get back to Father’s Day. After all of that work dad put in on the ribs, the kids and I wanted to make something special for him. We chose a Pineapple Ice Cream treat that dad had pulled from a Cooking Light magazine back in March 2011. We thought it would be a good complement to the ribs (well, ok, I thought that) and what a better time to make it than dad’s special day.

We started with about 2 cups of chopped pineapple, placed the chunks on a foil-lined baking sheet and sprinkled them with brown sugar.

We then started the broiler while preparing the syrup. The syrup starts with a combination of sugar, bourbon, water and lemon juice.

You’ve got to bring it to a boil while stirring constantly and then let it simmer without stirring for 10 minutes. The recipe calls for the syrup to cook for 10 minutes over medium-high heat, or until golden brown. Well, I tried that method and it ended up burning the syrup and smoking out the kitchen. Oops! So the second time through I simmered the syrup instead and it worked much better.

While the syrup was thickening, we broiled the pineapple about 5 inches from the heat for about 10 minutes.

We then returned to the syrup which was now a golden brown (not burnt) and added the cream and vanilla.

Next we scooped out some vanilla bean ice cream, tossed on some pineapples and drizzled with the syrup. We topped it with a bit of sweetened coconut flakes.

Dad was a happy camper. He thought it was delicious. So did my dad who took it without the sauce. As for Mr. N and Miss A they both enjoyed a version of the dessert as well. For the kiddos, we cut out the bourbon syrup and replaced it with a caramel sundae sauce. There was nothing left in the bowls – anyone’s!

Tomorrow we return to our state night adventures with a culinary trip to Illinois courtesy of Mr. N. Any guesses what we’re featuring?

That sounds like such a fun cooking class–quite experienced too! Sounds like you and Mr. N had a wonderful time. Pineapple is by far my favorite fruit, so I must give this recipe a-go. Bourbon sauce on top!? This must be a joke. Too many amazing flavors!

your right! the perfect pineapple treat for dads (and us) for that matter. Wow, i love the combo of flavors. Pineapples have to be one of my favorite fruits and they don’t get enough credit in the kitchen in my opinion! Love this recipe

This sounds terrific! I have to laugh at the smoking kitchen moment. You and me both…I can NEVER seem to get these syrups or candies to the right temp without smoking out my kitchen. I am a ridiculous mess with a candy thermometer. What a special dessert for Father’s Day! 🙂

wow.. cooking classes for kids really have changed since I was raising my kids!! Your little guy truly has an interest in cooking and it’s so great you encourage his participation. Men need to have those skills too! I love warmed pineapple and the syrupy sauce sounds heavenly!

Oh you know I LOVE pineapples and ice cream… this is just the best dessert. And let me just say I told my mother about you making homemade cornbread and she told me to tell you.. if you ever come to NYC she’s going to put you to work in her kitchen with her LMAO. But that cooking class sounds like so much fun! Can’t wait to see the new recipe

Wow, that is some evolved Cook with your Kids Class! I’ll never forget when my eldest started daycare, I looked over the lunch menu and saw Tofu Kabobs – really? – you guys are awesome!! Love that you are getting your youngsters involved at such a young age… that’s the way to do it! Pineapple is a great complement to ribs – juicy and refreshing and… (here I go being a boring nutritionist again :)) it contains a proteolytic enzyme, bromelain, that helps break down protein so it’s helpful for digesting those ribs too!

That is a good little fact – I think we’ll be having pineapple more often when we eat meat. 😉 It helps that the kids are really enjoying it too. Mr. N thinks he wants to be a cook and a writer when he’s older now and Miss A wants to make practically every meal all by herself now. LOL. She’s not quite there yet though, even if she thinks she is. 😉

Aww, that’s great you took a kid’s cooking class with Mr. N. I’ve been meaning to sign my boys up for one but just haven’t had the time with soccer, baseball, and cub scouts during the school year. Now all we have left is baseball, I can’t wait for the play off’s to end!
This looks good, pineapple topping sounds yummy with bourbon syrup. Now I’m hungry for this and it’s only 6:15am, I still need to do my cardio before the kiddo’s wake up! 🙂

I hear ya! There’s no way we would have been able to swing this class during the school year. It was a lot of fun though. Mike took him last night and they had a good time as well. (Although I think I got to enjoy the better menu. LOL) Good luck with the cardio this morning. I wish I could. I’ve had to take the last few days off due to a fever. UGH.

I always find fresh pineapple ends up making my mouth feel a bit scratchy – really high vitamin C content maybe, or perhaps a slight allergy. Tinned stuff is ok, and I love it when it has melted sugar on top. There’s a restaurant near me which serves skewers of pineapple chunks with browned sugar on top and a chocolate sauce for dipping for dessert! Yummy – I’ll take a bowl of the kids’ version… caramel sundae sauce….. drooool.

What’s cookin’…

Having returned from our 7-month European sabbatical, we're returning to the kitchens and neighborhoods in our own backyard with a focus on culture, education, history and delicious food. #EatPlayWorld

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